Pete Gallego’s got an eight-legged problem: return of the spider

Gallego, a Democrat, is locked in a fierce battle with Republican incumbent Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District. The campaign has featured plenty of mud-slinging so far, with political committees sending out a barrage of direct-mailers attacking both candidates. More than $5 million has been spent on television ads.

Now, San Antonio’s most famous spider has gotten tangled up in the latest round of political trash-talk.

The mailer, paid for by Florida-based nonprofit A Better America Now, features news headlines telling of the spider’s discovery, and how that put a stop to an underpass project on Texas 151. “Last month in San Antonio, the discovery of a single spider halted construction of a highway project and killed jobs,” the ad reads.

It continues, in larger type: “Left-wing extremists think spiders are more important than jobs.”

And in even larger type, here’s the kicker: “Left-wing extremists support Gallego.”

The message goes on to say that the same left-wing extremists who support Gallego also support the regulations (which are federal) that ensure protection of the spider habitat.

The opposite side of the flier doesn’t even mention Gallego’s name but features four long-legged spiders and photos of construction sites. Overhead, the following words are splashed: “What is more important? Highway construction jobs or spiders?”

The ad never mentions Canseco by name.

If Canseco is getting a little independent help against his opponent, Gallego has gotten his fair share, too. That includes ads paid for by the League of Conservation Voters, an environmental group based out of Washington-D.C. After that group lambasted Canseco for supporting a bill that would end a federal loan program for green-energy companies, the National Republican Congressional Committee responded with an ad that said radical environmentalists want to elect Gallego, according to my collegue Gilbert Garcia.

I guess we can add the spider, officially called the Braken bat cave meshweaver, to the long list of political weapons that’s been unleashed in this very vicious race. It’s an interesting tactic: the spider was found in a very environmentally-sensitive area. But congestion is also a huge problem in the area where the underpass was to be built. People’s passions are running high on the issue.

So to find out whether the spidey strategy will affect the Gallego-Canseco race, wait until Nov. 6. Voters will know the outcome of that race far sooner than they’ll know how the endangered spider will affect future highway plans.